polarized sunglasses

I thought I had found the perfect sunglasses: they're polarized and the
lenses are barely tan (so as not to make the day look darker). Today was the
first day I have tried riding my bike with the new glasses. I can't read my
bicycle computer while wearing them! The polarization makes a black smear
across the front of the cyclocomputer! When I take off the glasses, the
screen of the computer looks just fine.

Has anyone else had this problem?

Pat in TX

Pat wrote:
I thought I had found the perfect sunglasses: they're polarized and the
lenses are barely tan (so as not to make the day look darker). Today was the
first day I have tried riding my bike with the new glasses. I can't read my
bicycle computer while wearing them! The polarization makes a black smear
across the front of the cyclocomputer! When I take off the glasses, the
screen of the computer looks just fine.

Has anyone else had this problem?

Pat in TX


That's because liquid crystal displays work by changing the polarization
where it is to display dark. Your glasses are polarizing in the same
direction making the whole thing appear dark. If you rotate your head or
the lenses of you glasses 90 degrees, the display should reappear, but
that's not an on the road solution.

Mike

On Sat, 06 Nov 2004 21:44:04 -0600, Pat wrote:

I thought I had found the perfect sunglasses: they're polarized and the
lenses are barely tan (so as not to make the day look darker). Today was the
first day I have tried riding my bike with the new glasses. I can't read my
bicycle computer while wearing them! The polarization makes a black smear
across the front of the cyclocomputer! When I take off the glasses, the
screen of the computer looks just fine.

Has anyone else had this problem?

It depends on the computer. Any LCD screen works basically by polarizing,
so they do cause problems with polarized glasses. But some computers are
pretty good. I went to a shop with my polarized glasses on to see which
computers worked for me. Turned out that the Cateye Enduro II worked fine
-- through two different pairs of glasses.

On the whole, I think polarized glasses are great. Really cuts down on
the glare.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | You will say Christ saith this and the apostles say this; but
_`\(,_ | what canst thou say? -- George Fox.
(_)/ (_) |

David L. Johnson wrote:
On Sat, 06 Nov 2004 21:44:04 -0600, Pat wrote:


I thought I had found the perfect sunglasses: they're polarized and the
lenses are barely tan (so as not to make the day look darker). Today was the
first day I have tried riding my bike with the new glasses. I can't read my
bicycle computer while wearing them! The polarization makes a black smear
across the front of the cyclocomputer! When I take off the glasses, the
screen of the computer looks just fine.

Has anyone else had this problem?


It depends on the computer. Any LCD screen works basically by polarizing,
so they do cause problems with polarized glasses. But some computers are
pretty good. I went to a shop with my polarized glasses on to see which
computers worked for me. Turned out that the Cateye Enduro II worked fine
-- through two different pairs of glasses.

On the whole, I think polarized glasses are great. Really cuts down on
the glare.


Polarized glasses can also eliminate glare that you should see for
safety - like water on the road. You won't see any cycling specific
sunglasses with polarized lenses.

--
My Bike Blog:
http://diabloscott.blogspot.com/

Pat wrote:
I thought I had found the perfect sunglasses: they're polarized and
the lenses are barely tan (so as not to make the day look darker).
Today was the first day I have tried riding my bike with the new
glasses. I can't read my bicycle computer while wearing them! The
polarization makes a black smear across the front of the
cyclocomputer! When I take off the glasses, the screen of the
computer looks just fine.

Has anyone else had this problem?

Pat in TX

The problem that you're speaking of is certainly well-documented.

Perhaps a less frequently noted--yet equally troubling--side-effect of
polarizing sunglasses is their propensity to make the wearer think even
/less/ of people whose political beliefs vary from their own.

Sorry ;-)

On Sat, 06 Nov 2004 22:30:21 -0800, Diablo Scott wrote:

Polarized glasses can also eliminate glare that you should see for
safety - like water on the road. You won't see any cycling specific
sunglasses with polarized lenses.

That's actually not the case. I have no trouble seeing water on the road,
and distinguishing it from shiny patches of tar, or other things. This is
an oft-repeated warning about polarized glasses by those who haven't tried
them.

Yes, some things do look different with polarized lenses. Different is
not invisible. They cut down glare, they don't eliminate reflection.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | If all economists were laid end to end, they would not reach a
_`\(,_ | conclusion. -- George Bernard Shaw
(_)/ (_) |

On Sat, 06 Nov 2004 22:30:21 -0800, Diablo Scott
wrote in message
1099809020.n6nT7mXIwdIAPJz7BJ5dPw@teranews:

Polarized glasses can also eliminate glare that you should see for
safety - like water on the road. You won't see any cycling specific
sunglasses with polarized lenses.

Not so. I have Rudy Project Kerosenes with polarised lenses. They
are pretty good, especially when the sun is low in the sky.

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University

Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:
On Sat, 06 Nov 2004 22:30:21 -0800, Diablo Scott
wrote in message
1099809020.n6nT7mXIwdIAPJz7BJ5dPw@teranews:


Polarized glasses can also eliminate glare that you should see for
safety - like water on the road. You won't see any cycling specific
sunglasses with polarized lenses.


Not so. I have Rudy Project Kerosenes with polarised lenses. They
are pretty good, especially when the sun is low in the sky.

Guy

In low-light conditions with my prescription polarized sunglasses I
frequently do not see small obstructions or slick spots on the road
until I am on top of them.

In my experience, polarized sunglasses are great for activities where
you want to avoid large amounts of glare, such as skiing or watersports.
However for cycling, reflected light often indicates something that you
need to be aware of, and masking it out is a mistake.

Sam

On Sun, 07 Nov 2004 13:11:01 -0800, Sam Huffman
wrote in message :

In low-light conditions with my prescription polarized sunglasses I
frequently do not see small obstructions or slick spots on the road
until I am on top of them.

I don't wear sunglasses in low light conditions. Are you dressed in
black, perchance? ;-)

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University

On Sun, 07 Nov 2004 21:46:52 +0000, Just zis Guy, you know?
wrote:

On Sun, 07 Nov 2004 13:11:01 -0800, Sam Huffman
wrote in message :

In low-light conditions with my prescription polarized sunglasses I
frequently do not see small obstructions or slick spots on the road
until I am on top of them.

I don't wear sunglasses in low light conditions. Are you dressed in
black, perchance? ;-)

Guy

Why not? I wear double dark, as in clip-on shades over my prescription
glasses. The less chance of UV in the eyes the better, but I sure
can't see when I go inside. Polarized does make things interesting,
as you can tilt your head and see some things fade while other get
brighter. They help me to see fish in the water under bridges, not that
it has anything to do with riding, but a fringe benefit.
Bill Baka